ATLANTA — Cousins Properties Inc. (NYSE: CUZ) has signed a 15-year build-to-suit lease with tech firm NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR) to develop NCR’s $200 million world headquarters in Midtown Atlanta. Formerly based in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth in Gwinnett County, NCR’s new headquarters will be located within Tech Square, a multi-block campus of office buildings and retailers located on Spring Street near Georgia Tech.
“We are thrilled to be working with NCR to build their world headquarters in Midtown Atlanta,” says Larry Gellerstedt, president and CEO of Cousins Properties. “This is an exceptional opportunity for Cousins to develop and own a cutting-edge, skyline-enhancing trophy tower in Atlanta’s leading technology district.”
NCR has pre-leased 100 percent of the planned 485,000-square-foot office building. Cousins recently closed on the acquisition of the land at Centergy North, an office campus within Tech Square.
“I have stated very publicly that NCR’s bold, ambitious move to establish a state-of-the-art world headquarters campus in Midtown is a critical first step in a larger goal to create a ‘Silicon Valley of the East’ right here in Atlanta,” says Bill Nuti, chairman and CEO of NCR. “We are currently advocating for other tech leaders and innovative companies to follow our lead. NCR is committed to the City of Atlanta, State of Georgia, and the University System of Georgia. NCR will be a top employer and part of the fabric of this community for a very long time.”
“Never has it been more apparent that the next generation of talent can be found here in Atlanta,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “NCR has recognized the quality of the workforce here, and has made an investment which will pay dividends for decades. We look forward to building the future of technology with NCR.”
Prior to the announcement, NCR and Cousins closed on the incentives agreements offered by Invest Atlanta, an economic development authority. Construction is anticipated to commence in the first quarter of 2016, and delivery is targeted for early 2018.
Cousins Properties is an Atlanta-based REIT that primarily invests in Class A office assets in the Southeast and Texas. Cousins currently manages a 17 million-square-foot office and mixed-use portfolio. The company’s stock price closed Wednesday, July 15 at $10.38 per share, down from $12.52 per share at this time one year ago.
Founded in 1884 as a manufacturer of the first mechanical cash registers, NCR Corp. now enables more than 550 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business through its portfolio of ATM machines, services and online infrastructure. The company has more than 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR’s stock price closed Wednesday, July 15 at $29.45 per share, down from $33.08 per share at this time last year.
— John Nelson